Tongue-and-groove joint.



T. E. CAMP.

TONGUE AND GROOVE JOINT.

APPLIOATION FILED, FEB. 26, 1910.

Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

fimwe gw m/aawfa "I hinged top or lid TENT OFFICE.

rrtouasnf CAMP, or MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin.

roneun-nnn-anoovn Jorirr.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar. 1'4, 191

Application filed February 26, 1910. Serial Ho. 546L137.

To all whom it'my concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. CAMP, a citizen of the United" States, and resident of lifilwaulcee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ton ueand-G'roove Joints; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,'clea:r, and exact description thereof. i

The ob'ect of my invention is to provide anair-tigh being accomplished by means of a eculia'r tongue-and-groove joint connection et'ween thehi'nged top and body of the trunk.

A further object of my invention is to provide a practically. air-tight tongue-andgroove joint adapted to be used in connection with any article wherein a sealed joint between detachable members is desired.

The invention consists therefore in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts as set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying'drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a longitudinal sectional View of a fragment of a trunk or analogous receptacle having a in connection therewith; Fig. 2, an enlarged detailed cross-sectional view of the male and female members which together comprise the elements of I expansible.

my improved joint, the male member being hown disengaged from its seat with which the female member is provided, andFig. 3, a detail cross-section of a modified form of the groove.

Referring by numerals to the drawings 1 indicates the body portion of a trunk provided with a continuous groove 2 inits upper edge that extends around the front wall of the trunk, the bottom 2, of the groove being semicircular in cross-section. The upper or throat portion of the groovewalls are provided with filler strips 3, of any suitable material such as metal, wood or the like, which strips serve to contract said groove at its throat portion andin connection with the semicircular bottom of the groovethus form a key-hole slot .having an. open throat, the walls of which are non;

The inner faces of the filler, strips are preferably flared outwardly, as shown, in order to eflect a more perfect seating for a male member to be hereinafter described, which latter member completes the joint. A metallic binder 4 extends upt or hermetically sealed trunk, this f groove.

cushion-strip 5, which cushion in it's normal condition is preferabl oval in cross-section,

I 6 that 5 projects into the throat portion of the cham- .as shown, and provi ed with a lip j nel.

In Fig. mal sha" 2 the cushion is shown in its nore, with the mmor axis of the oval at a rig' t angle to the throat portion of the n this position-the side faces of lthe oval are clear of the-side-walls of the semicircular groove bottom, while a neck 5" of the cushion extends upwardly into the f throat thereof. This. clearance between the groove walls and cushion is made for the purpose of permitting said cushion to be compressed when theQmale member of the joint is in positioi The compression of the cushion, however, does not diminish its area, for the reason that the force of said compression is exerted in line with the major axis of the oval and an expansion in the width of the oval is effected. Thus it will be seen that the cushion only changes its configuration and the side-wall clearance in the bottom of the groove permits this lateral expansion, causing the cushion to fill the area in said groove bottom.

The male member, which in this instance is carried by the trunk lid, is provided with a tongue extension 7 that conforms in crosssection to the throat portion of the groove, and, as shown in Fig. 2, the tongue and adjacent sides'of the lid may also be reinforced by a metallic binder 8, similar -to that shown inconnection with the groove. In Fig. 1 the joint members are shown in their closed position, in which position the tongue 7' has compressed the cushion 5 to such an extent that the latter has completely filled the semicircular bottom 2?, but the area of said cushion remainsthe same.

By utilizing a cushion of less area than the groove'or seat, it will be seen that the life of the cushion is greatly increased, which,- under conditions wherein compression and contraction is had, to obtain a, sealjoint, the said cushion will quickly deteriorate.

v Any form of compression lock or clasp may be utilized to clamp the members in their closed position, there being a link .clamp fitting 9 connected to the top and I Fig. 3.

' stood that the throat trunk bodyfor accomplishing the desired result as shown in Fig. 1.

' While I have shown and described a solid cushion for accomplishing the desired result, it should be understood that" this cushion may be hollow, nor do I wish to confine myself to the elliptical formation as, for ex- I ample, a rectangular or polygonal form of groove bottom and cushion may be utilized to accomplish the same result, as shown in The essentialfeatnre of the inventionis to provlde a ushion having a seat of greater width than said cushion, the width of seat being disposed laterally or at right angles to the line of compression itbeing underortion of the groove is of less widththan its bottom-portion.

I claim :J 1. A joint for" detachable members coniprising a wood body portion ha ving-agroove therein, av metalhc binder extendlng up-- ward from the wood body over the top edges thereof, downwardly and around the groove walls, to forin'a solid walled key-hole slot within the groove of the body portion hav ing a'restricted throat, filler-strips inter- [neck that exten s into the contracted throat. portion of the aforesaid groove, said cushion posed between the side-walls of the groove ancl'walls of the binder. strip forming the restricted throat portion, a cushion seated within the bottom portion of the groove, the cushion being rovided, with a contracted being of less width than the greatest width of the bottom of the groove, whereby a normal clearance between the groove-walls and cushion is obtained, and a tongue member conforming in cross-section to the groove throat arranged to enter the same and impinge against the cushion neck.

2. A joint for detachable members comprising a wood body portion having a roove therein, a non-expansible metallic bin cr extending up\ 'ardly from the wood body over the top edge thereof, downwardly and around the groove walls, to forma solid walled key-- hole slot within -the groove of the 'body portion having a restrlcted throat, a cushion seated within the bottomportion of the groove, the cushion being provided with a contracted neck that extends into the contracted throat portion of the aforesaid groove, said cushion being of less width-than the greatest'width of the bottom of the groove, whereby a normal clearance between the groove walls and cushion is obtained,

and a-tongue memberconformihg in crosssect-ion to the groove throat arranged to enter the same andimpinge against the cushion neck, whereby lateral expansion of the cushion is had-to fill the lateral space between the walls of the groove bottom. 

